Latest Walkthroughs & Guides

Indiana Stone: The Brave And The Boulder iPad Review

Review by Chris Buffa
Published 2 years ago

Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies contain a variety of great moments, chief among them Indy running from a boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was the scene TwinSky Games sought to recreate in its humorous iPhone and iPad title, Indiana Stone: The Brave and the Boulder. At first, we wrongly assumed this game would cast us as a death-defying archaeologist. Turns out, it's the exact opposite.

In a very welcome twist, the game puts you in control of the giant rock, charged with chasing after the idol-stealing Indiana Stone with the goal of squashing him flat. As for the extremely tight accelerometer controls, just tilt the device right or left to guide the boulder, and tap the screen to jump.

Naturally, an oversized rock doesn't have to worry about the same hazards as the game's adventurer. As such, you're free to plow through snakes, bats and natives. In fact, the developers encourage this behavior in order to fill the boulder's power meter; once full, you can temporarily bust through anything. That said, the challenge comes from avoiding spikes, saw blades, stone columns and walls, because taking too much damage ends the game, forcing you to restart from the beginning.

The game's fun for the most part, especially when you consider it's visual presentation, complete with crude looking polygons that bring to mind the early days of 3D, but with a layer of polish made possible by today's mobile devices. If you grew up in the 90s and have fond memories of Sega CD and 3DO, it'll be hard not to fall for this game's blocky appearance.

At the same time, The Brave and the Boulder lacks the depth necessary to make it one of our favorite games. The concept doesn't evolve much, outside of unlocking different types of rocks, and tedium quickly sets in once you've seen the handful of locations, Egypt and China to name a couple. Still, it's a cool distraction and a different take on one of cinema's biggest action scenes, but is it worth $2.99? No.